In article <1993Jul3.184740.22031@mont.cs.missouri.edu>,
MCELROY@zodiac.rutgers.edu says:
>
>/* Written 4:28 pm Jul 2, 1993 by lester@gn.apc.org in
>gn:gen.gaylesbian */
>
>
>/* ---------- "Ireland: Legal at last!" ---------- */
> HOMOSEXUALITY DECRIMINALISED IN IRELAND
>
>Dublin, 30th June 1993 - The Irish parliament has passed a
>law to decriminalise sex between men. The move comes as a
>result of more than twenty years of campaigning and court
>actions by the lesbian and gay community. It is undoubtedly
>the most significant change in the law to affect gay men and
>lesbians.
>
>The new law has been universally welcomed by the lesbian and
>gay community, as it provides for the same age of consent
>for gay men as for straight couples. Buggery and "gross
>indecency" have therefore been decriminalised for those over
>17 years old. Unlike Britain's 1967 legislation, there are
>no special provisions regarding privacy or age. Those
>campaigning for a change in the law had been concerned that
>the legislation might be based on the British example, and
>introduce a higher age of consent for gay men.
>
>
>The laws criminalising gay men were passed in 1861 and 1885
>when Ireland was governed by Britain, and they provided for
>life imprisonment for buggery. (Sex between women was never
>an offence). They have only been enforced in the case of
>non-consensual sex for some time. Decriminalisation was made
>easier by new laws on rape which were passed several years
>ago: these broadened the definition of sexual assault and
>rape, to cover assault between men.
>
>
> Strasbourg ruling the key
>
>The main move to change the law in Ireland came from a
>ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
>In October 1988, it found Ireland to be in breach of the
>European Convention on Human Rights on the grounds of
>privacy, because sex between men was a crime. The case was
>taken by Senator David Norris, who is a member of the upper
>house of the Irish parliament. He had previously challenged
>the Constitutionality of the anti-gay laws in the High Court
>(1980) and Supreme Court (1982/83). In both cases the laws
>were upheld.
>
>Since then, campaigners have pressed the Irish government to
>implement the ruling. But they were more concerned that the
>right kind of law would be passed, rather than the delay.
>The first commitment to change the law came in December
>1990, a few weeks after Mary Robinson was elected Ireland's
>first woman president. Commitments to change the law by the
>end of 1991 and later 1992 were broken.
>
>In September 1990, the official Law Reform Commission
>recommended that the law be brought into line with the
>Strasbourg ruling, with an equal age of consent of 17 for
>all.
>
> The debate in parliament
>
>
>The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 1993 was passed by
>the lower house of parliament (the Dail) on 24th June.
>Debate on the legislation was curtailed by the Government:
>it lasted about five hours in all, spread over two days.
>
>The measure was introduced by the first female Minister for
>Justice, Maire Geoghegan Quinn. She could have produced a
>Bill which was much more restrictive, but which still
>complied with the Strasbourg ruling. Instead, she introduced
>legislation which is based on equality for gays and
>straights, and she enthusiastically promoted it on this
>basis. Many opposition deputies praised her for her
>courageous stand.
>
>She told the Dail: "What we are concerned with fundamentally
>in this Bill is a necessary development of human rights. We
>are seeking to end that form of discrimination which said
>that those whose nature it is to express themselves sexually
>in their personal relationships as consenting adults in a
>way which others disapprove or feel uneasy about, must
>suffer the sanction of the criminal law. We are saying...
>that it is time we brought this form of human rights
>limitation to and end."
>
>She said that in her consultations, the person who impressed
>her the most was the mother of a gay man who wanted the law
>changed. She told one opposition deputy who was opposing the
>measure that she hoped none of his three sons would have to
>come to him and tell him they were homosexual.
>
> Parliamentary opposition muted
>
>The Bill passed all stages in Dail without a vote, as none
>of the political parties opposed it. Most of the outright
>opposition had come from within the Minister's own party,
>Fianna Fail. The main opposition party (Fine Gael) proposed
>an amendment to raise the age of consent from 17 to 18
>years. But there was a revolt among liberal members of this
>party, who engaged in delaying tactics to ensure that the
>amendment was never discussed. Three Fine Gael members
>(including the deputy leader of the party) carried out a
>"filibuster", by stringing out the debate on earlier
>sections of the Bill during the Committee Stage debate.
>
>When the Bill ran out of time and was passed without a vote,
>lesbian and gay campaigners opened champagne outside
>Leinster House, the parliament building.
>
> Senate Debate
>
>The Bill completed its passage through parliament the
>following week, when the Senate debated it on 29th and 30th
>June. Senator David Norris (49) had a chance to speak on the
>law reform for which had worked for so long. In a typically
>witty speech, he outlined society's responses to
>homosexuality through the ages. He said it was a happy day
>when legislators chose to liberate "the gay community from
>an oppressive, corrupt and deeply damaging law, whose
>origins are shrouded in the mists of ancient religious
>practice."
>
>However he said he could not support the Bill as it stood,
>because it introduced other provisions which increased the
>penalties for prostitution. He said could not "accept my
>liberation without a murmur at the expense of the
>victimisation of another vulnerable group."
>
>A member of the main opposition party tried to amend the law
>to provide for a higher age of consent (18 years). But
>again, there was little support among the party, with only
>nine of Fine Gael's 17 Senators voting for it.
>
> President's signature required
>
>The change in the law will take effect on the day the
>President of Ireland signs the Bill, in early July. She has
>very little discretion in the matter, but in any event
>President Mary Robinson will not have any difficulty with
>it. Before her election, she represented David Norris as his
>senior lawyer in all his court cases against the anti-gay
>legislation.
>
> Lesbian and Gay Pride Celebration
>Another happy coincidence was that the Dail passed the
>legislation during Lesbian and Gay Pride week. The parade in
>Dublin, which was attended by up to 1,000 people, turned
>into a euphoric celebration. The rally applauded those who
>had campaigned for the law change. And the crowd also
>cheered the Minister for Justice, Maire Geoghegan Quinn,
>when a speaker praised her for her role.
>
> Law reform approved by government parties
>
>The decriminalisation of gay men was carried out by a
>coalition government made up of a traditionalist and
>populist party (Fianna Fail), and a smaller social
>democratic (Labour) party. The change in the law had been
>agreed between them early on in their negotiations last
>December on the formation of a government. Their Programme
>for Government committed them to changing the law by the end
>of 1993.
>
>After many years of delays, the legislation was produced
>with unusual speed. Early proposals leaked by the Department
>of Justice put forward four options, some of which were
>entirely unacceptable to the lesbian and gay community.
>(These included an age of consent of 21 or worse.) When
>there was surprisingly little public reaction, the Minister
>for Justice proposed the most radical of the options to the
>government, and the Cabinet gave its approval on May 18th.
>
>Another promise in the Programme for Government is a general
>anti-discrimination law, which will include sexual
>orientation. The Unfair Dismissals Act is in the process of
>being amended, to extend its protection to workers sacked
>because of the their sexual orientation, among other areas.
>In 1988, the Incitement to Hatred Act was passed, having
>been amended at the last minute to include sexual
>orientation. It makes it an offence to incite hatred or
>violence against certain groups.
>
>******************************************************
>
>For further information contact:
>
>Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, or
>National Lesbian and Gay Federation, at:
>
>10 Fownes Street Upper
>Dublin 2
>Ireland
>
>Tel +353-1-671 0939
>
>